The invention generally relates to repair jigs and, more particularly, relates to repair jigs and other apparatus for repairing marine engine distributors.
In the repair or maintenance of marine engine distributors, it is necessary to remove the engine distributor cap from the distributor housing. With certain marine engines, the distributor cap is manufactured from plastic, and is attached to an aluminum distributor housing with steel screws. For example, the Mercruiser Thunderbolt(trademark) series of engines is one example of a distributor comprised of multiple materials.
Due to the interaction between the steel and aluminum, as well as the wet environment in which the engine operates, the steel screws attaching the distributor cap to the distributor housing can often corrode. As a result, when an engine mechanic attempts to remove the screws for removal of the cap, the screws tend to seize and break off within a bore of the distributor housing.
When such screws break, this necessitates that the mechanic drill the broken screw or screws from the distributor housing, which in turn requires that the distributor housing be retapped to provide the threads necessary for a new screw to be used during reinstallation of the distributor cap. This process has proven to be extremely difficult to accomplish without damaging the distributor cap and/or housing. Even if the distributor housing is not damaged, the process is time consuming and costly.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a repair jig for drilling and retapping bores provided in a marine engine distributor is provided which comprises a frame, a plurality of alignment collets extending from the frame, and a registration surface provided on each alignment collet. Each collet includes an aperture therethrough. Each registration surface is adapted to engage a receiving surface of the marine engine distributor, such that the collet apertures are aligned with the engine bores upon engagement of the collet registration surfaces with the marine engine distributor receiving surfaces.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of redrilling and tapping bores of a marine engine distributor is provided which comprises the steps of placing a repair jig atop the distributor wherein the repair jig has at least one drill bit alignment opening sized to receive a drill bit and at least one tap alignment opening sized to receive a tap, aligning the drill bit opening with a fastener to be removed from the marine engine distributor, inserting a rotating drill bit through the drill bit opening to remove the fastener from a bore of the distributor, aligning the tap opening with the bore, and inserting a rotating tap into the tap opening and into the distributor bore to retap the bore.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a kit for repairing a marine engine distributor having at least one distributor cap attachment fastener broken off within a distributor bore is provided which comprises a frame, an alignment mechanism, a drill bit, and a tap. The frame includes at least one drill bit receiving bore and at least one tap receiving bore. The alignment mechanism is operatively associated with the frame and is adapted to align the drill bit receiving bore and the tap receiving bore with the distributor bore. The drill bit is sized to remove the broken fastener, and the tap is sized to rethread the distributor bore.
These and other aspects and features of the invention will become more apparent from following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.